Everyone has certain daily habits and good habits they’d like to add to their lives. Habit stacking makes it easy to create new behaviors by stacking them with things you already do.
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For example, brushing your teeth is an existing habit. If you want to add a fitness habit to your daily routine, you would “stack it” on top of brushing your teeth. Each day, immediately after brushing your teeth, you would do a certain number of push-ups or walk for a set distance/time. Get it?
This process of habit stacking can be used to improve your finances, too! Read on to see how.
Step 1: Make a List of Your Current Habits
These are the things you already do consistently. Brushing your teeth, waking up at a certain time, feeding pets/kids, starting the coffee, etc. It is important to think of any habits that you do consistently throughout your day, even if they are small or seemingly insignificant.
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Step 2: List Out ALL the Habits You Want to Add
You don’t need to add them all right now, but you can come back to this list as many times as you want to do more habit stacking. For finances, some items that might be on this list could include:
- Check bank balance
- Schedule bill payments
- Read financial newsletter
- Add money to savings jar/bank account
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Step 3: Stack!
Figure out which habits you want to add right now and attach them to an exciting one. For example:
- After I brush my teeth, I will check my bank balance
- When I turn on the coffee machine, I will add money to my savings jar/account
- While I’m drinking my coffee, I will read the financial newsletter
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Step 4: GO
When you’ve created your stack, all that’s left is to implement it each day. Be patient with yourself if it’s tough at first. Creating new habits and routines takes time. If you forget a stack one day, let it go and try again tomorrow.
For more on habit stacking, check out this book.
What’s one new financial habit you’ll add to your daily routine? How will you stack it? Let us know in the comments below!
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